Monday, March 28, 2011

Ta-Da!!!!!(From here on out when I have anything big to share with y'all, we'll call it a "Ta-Da!"...got it? It'll be our thang...)

"Ta Da!" (allegedly my first words)

Where was I? Oh!!! Look what I did to my blog! And it only took 6 days...

I have plans for The Imaginary Mouse to go global...I mean, its totally doable considering that I already have seven followers and two of them are people I don't even know!!!

(Okay, so two of them are my sister Misty and I have no idea why she is on there twice but that still counts as seven followers...because I make the rules up around here, that's why...)

I had a revelation this morning...I crave creativity in my life and sometimes it's just not possible to haul a piece of furniture to the carport, clean it, strip it, prime it, paint it, and seal it with a baby like Gus sprinting crawling around...and don't even get me started on working with a hot glue gun...

But this...this sweet little blog...it can be my creative outlet for now...I can't tell you how good it makes me feel when I see I've gained a new follower or, even better, have a comment left about a post...(hint, hint)

So I am going to try to post more often...not everyday...but maybe twice a week...It may not have a lot of "big reveals" involving furniture but I will share with you ideas and dreams I have for our little abode and maybe it will inspire you to try something in your home...you know, to think outside the box...

In light of the new look, I thought I should explain just who The Imaginary Mouse is...

Her name is Tressa...I made her up befriended her when I was two or three years old and we spent many a day playing dress up, sharing our hopes and dreams and just talking like gal pals do

She is gray with big pink ears and she always wore a pale aqua shift dress...I have no idea why I named her Tressa...She had a brother named Johnny and a sister named Apple...(yep, Gwyneth Paltrow totally stole that name from me)

Here is an artist's rendering of Tressa
as she was late to today's photo shoot...

The reason I named my blog The Imaginary Mouse is because my memories of Tressa represent for me the first time I can remember using my imagination...

I can also remember pretending I was a cheerleader by running to my room and grabbing two of the throw pillows off my bed and bounding back in to the living room and performing to "Dueling Banjos" for Daddy while he sat there drinking his "funny tasting coke" waiting to applaud my performance...

Speaking of applause, I also thought that when I swished water around in my mouth it sounded like applause so I did it often...when I had no family to entertain (or maybe they were hiding from me? Hmm...)

Go ahead, try it...you know you want to...take a swig of whatever you are drinking...we won't judge just because its not even noon yet...

Doesn't it sound just like applause???

So the next time you are feeling blue or neglected or your boss tells you that you aren't turning in your T95 PL Reports fast enough, take a swig and let the crowd go wild...

Oh, and look...here is the fabric I got to make panels for the French doors in our Breakfast Room...

Please disregard the dead fern on the left and get a load of all that happy going on all over that fabric!

I was so excited because I found the fabric at a boutique fabric store in Tyler for $25 a yard and then found it online at Fabric.com for only $17.95 and free shipping! Score!!

I think I will even have enough left over to create a border on some window mistreatments a la The Nester I want to do in the den...

And another project I want to take on is to use some moss somehow in my house...I'm thinking moss letters, like these:

Maybe to spell GUS for his room or a giant T (for Traylor) or maybe even spell out NEST or ABODE to hang in our den...

I first saw the idea here at Dear Lillie, an incredibly talented blogger that has a beautiful home and an adorable daughter and another on the way...how does she do it?

There is something about the fresh green moss that just sings spring to me...If I get really brave (and have a three hour time slot to wield a glue gun safely without Gus around) I would love to go after this mirror:

Silver mirror that needs some pizazz...it just seems embarrassed to be hanging behind the incredible Horchow Finale lamp and Anthropologie lamp shade

Who knows if I'll get around to it but I promise to show y'all pictures and a how-to if I do...but I'm learning that right now the point of this blog isn't necessarily that every idea I come up with comes to fruition for me and my home but maybe it's about inspiring y'all...and not just to pick out fabric or cover stuff in your house in moss...but to be brave and take chances in your home and, heck, in life...

So what do y'all think of the new look of The Imaginary Mouse?

Hey, I have an idea! Leave a comment (pretty please) and let me know!!!!

Love,
Brandy
(and Tressa, The Imaginary Mouse)

P.S. Gratuitous Gus picture alert:

Doesn't it look like they are saying the blessing? They weren't but this sweet moment certainly makes me count mine

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

My blog is a mess. I was trying to gussy up the place and I seem to have misplaced some things and made what was already a bad blog design look worse.

I was trying to give The Imaginary Mouse a new look because this morning I linked one of my post's to a popular blogger's link party...

The Nester is uber-cool and her blog, Nesting Place, is the first blog I visit every morning while I drink my coffee and Gus crawls around acting like its the first time he's ever seen the toys he played with the day before.

You need to go to her blog and check out all the awesomeness that the other cool kids brought to the Take A Risk Day Link Party. I just wanted to fit in with the other kids. And look what happened...I didn't want to be embarrassed of my blog design's lameness and I only made it worse.

I don't know what I am gonna do because I want to throw my computer across the room and curse the little elves that keep un-saving all the changes I am trying to make at Blogger.

Does anyone know someone that is savvy at blog design?

Because this is kind of like when I put Sun-In Hair Lightener in my hair three days before I started my freshman year of high school and when it didn't seem blond enough, I followed the instructions on the box and blow dried it...

uh oh.

So to detract from my orange hair, I cut bangs.

I know. It's getting worse.

And I thought, "Well since I cut bangs and I butchered them, I should go and get a whole new look to start high school off right! That'll turn all the boys' heads!"

(Someone stop me, please!)

So instead of this...

"I've fallen and I can't get up because my hair is too heavy"

I got this...(Yes, I totally took a picture of a page in my freshman yearbook...I'm gonna win all sorts of blog awards with this epic talent...P-Dub, Nester, watch out because I'm on your heels!)

"Hey, I didn't know Ryan Seacrest was from Jacksonville, Texas!"

So if anyone knows how to fix my blog, let me know...or send someone to stop me from moving on to cutting my own bangs again.

"Seacrest Out!"

P.S. You know who's not lame? This guy...

"My Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"- The #3 High School Yearbook Theme of 1987

Like any good makeover, you have to see the before pictures so you can see what an improvement the transformation is.

Speaking of makeovers, when we were in college, a certain someone was in "the pageant circuit"...Her pageant director/mentor/friend Nikki managed to get her a sponsor in the form of a very high end hair salon in Houston...a very French can't-get-in-for-12-weeks-$250-haircut salon...In exchange for my the pageant girl's "hair sponsorship", the salon wanted to do a photo shoot of before and afters to submit to national hair magazines and they wanted to use about 6 girls...so the victims "models" loaded up in College Station and drove to the hair salon early, early on a Sunday morning.

In the blaring morning sun, they took "before" photos of each of the girls with no makeup and disheveled hair. (Except one girl named Mercy cheated and wore concealer...that annoyed me the pageant girl so much because Mercy looked all fresh and rosy and I looked all sick and corpse-y...

Are you on to me yet that I am the "pageant girl" in the story? Good. I can quit using the strike through key...although it is kinda fun entertaining...

So, one of the other "models" was my sister Jenny and as she recalls, when they did our makeup, they called in all the dropouts from clown school...

Her eyeshadow was purple and her lipstick was red. (If I were a professional blogger, I would take the time to track down some of these pictures but let me assure you red lipstick on those full plump lips of Jenny's is a little, well, much...and I'm sure they were trying to play off her gorgeous green eyes with the purple eyeshadow but, really?)

Any who, my recollection is that they didn't feed us all day...it was like torture...I mean I know they were French and only eat parsley and old cigarette butts but, come on...I think finally at like 5 o'clock they broke down and ordered some dry pita bread and ice cubes for us and then made us do 5,000 jumping jacks each because we were all looking a little too "tous les américains"...in case you are wondering, that means "All American" or "healthy" in French...

Back to Gert...

Here is a closeup of her top...Despite the sanding block in the picture, the top hasn't been sanded yet...Yes, that's what she really looked like...Bless her heart...

"Don't look at me, I'm hideous"

So on Saturday, Michael was serving as CGO (Chief Gus Officer) and after a trip to Wal-mart for the proper supplies, I got to work stripping the top of the table and once the toxic stripping goop was cleaned up, I sanded her and cleaned everything off before starting to paint. I didn't sand or strip her legs because I wanted to be able to antique them and have some of the stain peek through.

I started with the legs and I loved the coverage of Behr's paint and primer in one because I only needed to do two coats, including priming. Once the legs were dry, I flipped her over and started on the top.

I created a stain using equal parts water and the same paint I used on the legs. I wanted the top to have a whitewashed, beachy look. I just painted the homemade stain on and then rubbed it in with tack cloth and it took no time to dry. I still need to put a sealant on her to protect her from future tonka truck races and errant backpacks that will be casually tossed on top of her but I went ahead and brought her inside because Wal-mart didn't carry the sealant I needed...

So here she is...in all her glory...let me introduce to you the new and improved Gert:

Check out those gams!

It's amazing what a few highlights will do for a girl's confidence

"Call me!"

So that's what I did this past Saturday...and on Sunday...I was driving home from grocery shopping at The Walmart (that's what some people around here call it...The Walmart, I have no idea why) when I passed a garage sale...I know, random to have a garage sale on Sunday, but it's on a street where some of the same houses have a garage sale every weekend (most likely consisting of things they bought at garage sales the week before) I like to call these Perpetual Garage Sales...

Where was I? Oh, I spotted this cute round table and pulled over to check it out. It was sitting in front of two night stands and a small oval coffee table that were clearly from the same set but I just wanted the round side table but the guy wouldn't budge from selling them as a set...all four pieces for $40...total...wow, that is a good deal...and who am I to pass up such a bargain?

Here they all are:

Prudence the side table

Opal the oval coffee table and Dr. and Mrs. Thornton the night stands...I'm not sure where all these names are coming from

So in true Brandy form I might've bitten off more than I can chew in my newest creative endeavor...I mean, I already have a list of things sitting around that I want to paint, including:

1. The entryway mirror and dresser...Vera and Nigel...they will be painted the same color to look like one piece...aahh, the cohesiveness of young love...

Vera the Mirra (say it, it rhymes) and Nigel, her dapper beau

2. The Lisa-and-Dan-Wedding-Present hutch, Evelyn...she's going all light and airy with some distressing on the beautiful woodwork to show it off...

Evelyn...pardon the clutter

3. An old dresser of my parent's for our master bedroom, Charlton Cheston...sorry, no photo available
(because I don't want to drive to Mama and Daddy's just to take a pic)

4. And two twin beds for Georgia's big girl room, Freddy and Petunia...

See those scary lilac/pink bed frames in the background? Meet Freddy and Petunia!

So there you have it...I've got my hands full...and that's not including this guy...Lord help us when he starts to sprint walk...

I want ten more just like him...can you even stand it? And Gus is cute, too :)

Be afraid...be very afraid

P.S. I'm pregnant...just kidding, I wanted to see who made it all the way to the end of this Epic Post

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

I hosted a lady bug themed baby shower in my new home for my cousin Amber,

Tissue pom poms we later added to Adalynn Virginia's room and the adorable banner Misty made her (pre-broken arm)

carnation lady bugs

The front door sign welcoming guests...one of the signs that my MIL, Grace, painted for Adalynn's room...she is SO talented!

a sick baby,

The pathetic Spokesbaby of RSV and Double Ear Infections

my 39th birthday,

39 is the new 29...or so they say

training Gus to sleep through the night (sorry, no picture but trust me, it has been so fun!)

and just the "daily-ness" of life.

I spend a lot of time thinking of ideas for my blog and things I would like to write about. As you can see from the infrequency of my posts, I don't always get around to it. The best time for me to blog is when Mr. Gus is asleep but that's usually when I shower and clean the house. But today, his morning nap is longer than usual so here I am...showered and done with an art project!

For a while now I've been designing a project for my kitchen. It's something really special to me and I love how it turned out.

Growing up, Daddy was always carving things. One of the most common was spoons.

Which one of these is not like the others?

A few months ago I found a box of them at Mama and Daddy's house and asked if I could take them to display in my new kitchen.

I took an old frame, spray painted it and added chicken wire. But the spoons didn't stand out the way I wanted them to because they were against a khaki wall.

So I decided to take some black and white ticking fabric that was left over from Gus' crib bedding and I stapled it behind the chicken wire. Then I hung the spoons with vintage ribbon I found in Canton last week.

Voila!

I love that when I walk in the door, I see the spoons that we used in our kitchen when I was growing up. That's what makes it so great...most of these spoons we actually used on a daily basis...

I never had a hope chest...but I always hoped I would have a chest...sorry, I couldn't resist...

Thank you, Daddy...for making one of your 753 hobbies carving. Because now I have something to display in my home that no one else has. An original piece of Joe Peacock art. And just like the artist, it's one in a million.

Two One-In-A-Millions...Does that equal Two Millions?

So that's what I did this morning. I'd better go...my bangs are going to dry sticking straight up and I hear Gus waking up.

P.S. I got the boots!!!!!!!!!! Michael gave them to me for my birthday and I L-O-V-E them. They are SO me!!! Thank you, Michael. I love you more than all the turquoise boots in all the world.

About Little Ol' Me

I am a girl. Who met a guy. I moved back to my small hometown after years in Big D to marry the guy...the love of my life, Michael. I felt a little lost without Super Target and restaurants that don't have drive-thru windows. Found out I was gonna have our first baby. Worried I wouldn't be a good enough wife and mommy. Gave birth to sweet baby Gus. And realized that I was born to be his mommy and his Daddy's wife. I am building a little nest for my family made with found objects, crafty projects, piles of unfolded laundry, funny stories and most of all, beautiful memories. I have ideas, opinions, suggestions and blessings to share. I hope you will join me for the journey that God has given me the gift of living. I am so beyond blessed with this beautiful mess that is my life.